Come Alive
by Hippogriff Keeper
Summary: The final year is here. A secret threat comes to consume them. And a betrayal that goes back years will come to the surface.
1. Prologue

Come Alive by snidget76

Prologue: The Calm before the Storm

_James:_

I heard the screaming before anything. It was loud and clear even being so far away. The day was bright and sunny. My large extended family was spending the day at my grandparents' house, the Burrow. It was supposed to be a nice lunch filled with grand mum Weasley's cooking and Quidditch. I had been sitting down on the grass clipping stray twigs off my broom. My cousins were all over the backyard in the air, working on school, or talking with the reminiscing adults

Everyone had looked up at the sound and froze. The adults exchanged looks.

"We have to see if anyone's hurt," started my mum. She looked white and scared, which was a way my mother never looked.

"I'll go," my dad volunteered. Uncle Ron nodded as did my Uncle George and his wife, Aunt Angelina.

"Us too," she said.

"Harry, if you're going so am I," my mum. Dad looked like he wanted to protest but consented.

"Everyone inside," shouted my grand mum.

When we entered the kitchen of the Burrow, the remaining adults began counting up the children. Aunt Audrey's breath caught clearly audible over everyone else.

"What is it, dear?" asked gran, looking concerned.

"Lucy and Molly," whispered Aunt Audrey. The people in the kitchen looked puzzled for a moment before looking around the room frantically, their expressions changing to shock.

"Vere is Louis?" asked Aunt Fleur. She glanced out the window and her eyes grew worried.

"I saw them. They left about a minute ago. They went in the direction of the Scamanders," I was hardly aware of the words leaving my mouth. I was numb. Don't let it be them was the only thought in my mind.

A few seconds later came another scream. This time I recognized the screaming voice. It was the voice of Rowena, one of my best friends, sounding as though she was being tortured. Without thinking about consequences, I had raced through the kitchen much to the shouts of protest behind me. I raced out of the Burrow and up the hills that led to the cylinder- shaped house.

When I arrived at the pathway that led to the house I was out of breath but I hardly noticed. All I could think about was saving Rowena from whatever had caused her to scream. What I didn't expect was for the person to have caused her to scream be her own father.

Rolf Scamander was being led out of the house by my own father and my uncle Ron.

"James! Get back to the Burrow!" my dad shouted and without waiting to see if I listened he and Ron apparated away with a sharp crack.

"James," called out a voice. I looked around and saw Lucy emerging from behind the house closely followed by Lysander Scamander, one of Rowena's older brothers, Molly, and Louis. "James, come on let's get back to the Burrow," she said. Lucy didn't seem at all surprised to find me there. Without a second look behind her she gestured for me to follow and began hurrying down the hill. Lysander gave a stiff nod and re- entered the house.

"What happened back there?" I demanded.

"You don't want to know," was Lucy's only response. She had a faraway look in her eyes. Molly and Louis looked slightly shell- shocked and didn't say anything.

"What in the world are you doing here, James? And you three! Come on!" exclaimed my aunt Angelina. Without waiting for a response she grabbed my upper arm and pulled me down the hill back to my grandparents' house, gesturing for the others to follow. My mum and my uncle George were waiting at the bottom of the hill for us.

"James, James. James!"

I woke with a start. I was in my bedroom at Godric's Hollow, staring into the eyes of Rowena Scamander, my girlfriend.

"Your mum told me you'd be here," she said. "I didn't realize you'd still be asleep."

"Oh," was I could think to say.

"You were having that dream again weren't you?"

I grimaced. That was answer enough for her.

"James, it happened years ago. Can't you forget?"

I shook my head. "There are some things you shouldn't forget. Anyway," I said changing the subject, "why are you here? Not that I'm not glad to see you."

Rowena gave me a bemused look and pulled from her pocket a sheet of parchment and held it up for me to see:

i Ms. Rowena Scamander will require:

Standard Book of Spells (Grade 7) by Miranda Goshawk

Advanced Defensive Magic by Quentin Trimble

Defensive Magical Theory by Godfrey Hettinger

The Predictions of Planets: Astronomy and Divination Working Hand in Hand by Cassandra Vablatsky

Advanced Transfiguration (Grade 2) by Emetic Switch

Seeing Without Eyes by Cassandra Vablatsky/i

"Oh right, we're meeting the guys at Diagon Alley to get our supplies. I forgot," I remembered. We had made the plans over a week ago.

Rowena hesitated. "James, maybe we should reschedule. I mean you don't seem well and I'm concerned—"

"Row," I interrupted her, "I'm fine. Now I've got to get dressed, if you wouldn't mind waiting downstairs for a bit?"

"I hope you're right, James," she murmured before heading out the door. I frowned, I couldn't help but get the impression that she seemed a bit distracted and not in a good way.

I shook my head to clear away those thoughts. Rowena always seems a bit distracted, as though she's thinking about something else at the same time as doing something different. It just comes with being a Lovegood.

I got out of bed, stretched, then headed to my chest of drawers. I pulled on a dark navy blue shirt with a collar and a pair of blue jeans. I also grabbed my black jacket off the back of my desk chair.

Once dressed, I glanced around the room. It was pretty much a mess. My mother would never let me leave the house with it like this. Grabbing my wand off the top of my mahogany desk, I muttered the household-y spell my mum had taught me. The effects were immediate. The dirty laundry on the floor went zooming into the hamper, the bed began to make itself, and the mess of broken quills and screwed up bits of parchment on the desk went into the rubbish bin underneath it. Satisfied, I waved my wand once more.

"iAccio booklist/i," I said clearly. Said parchment list went flying into my waiting hand. Nodding, I left the room.

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Please review and tell me what you think. Updates will be rather irregular I'm afraid to say. I've got the next few chapters lined up for revising and editing, so the next one can be expected soon at least.**


	2. A Promise

Chapter Two: A Promise

_Warning: this chapter has some physical abuse in it and implied substance abuse. Please review. _

_i Deven: /i_

I quickly shoved my broomstick into my school trunk while I checked over my shoulder into the open doorway into the lightening hallway. It was empty. Nothing yet, I thought, grabbing my potion scales and ramming them in after the broom. I glanced around the room. There was nothing else I needed to pack. Slamming the lid down on my trunk I heard a hesitant shuffling behind me. I spun around with my wand held out in front of me. It was a reflex, and it caused my younger sister to flinch went she saw it come out. I stashed the smooth maple wand back in my pocket when it saw who it was.

"Dev, are you leaving now?" Kat asked hesitantly. She had scraggly, black hair and was wearing plain blue pajamas that looked at least two sizes too small and was carrying an old and tattered stuffed bear. Despite the fact that she was thirteen years old, her dark green eyes were haunted like that of a person who had experienced too much for such a young age. My expression softened at her trembling lower lip.

"Yeah, Kat, I always have to leave on September First, you know that," I awkwardly began the speech I had been giving Kat since right before I had to leave for my first year at Hogwarts.

She nodded in a helpless sort of way. I stood up from my kneeling position before my trunk and slowly stood up and opened my arms, still cautiously. Kat fell into them gratefully and I hugged.

I hated it. I hated the fact that I had to do everything cautious and careful around her. It had been this way for as long as I could remember. The worst part was that this wasn't something that just happened. It was someone's fault that if I or anyone else moves too quickly or raises a hand to my sister she'll flinch and shrink away as though she's expecting a beating. That someone who did this to Kat was the very person who was never supposed to let it happen, our father.

"Leaving so soon, Deven?" asked a silky cold voice from the doorway. I cursed.

I let go of Kat and she drifted off toward my right while I faced my father defiantly.

"Yes," I answered shortly before turning to my trunk and grabbing it. I made for the door, but found my father blocking my path. Excuse me," I said with barely controlled politeness. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kat close hers and begin moving her mouth, silently begging.

"Is that any way to address your father?" he asked rhetorically.

"Sorry, it's just I'm running a bit late and I was hoping to leave before you had awoken to not cause a disturbance," I replied stiffly.

"Don't mock me, boy," he snarled leaning close enough to my face so I could smell the faint traces of last night's Firewhisky on his breath. His hand twitched as my father's wand made its appearance into it.

"Don't," was the frightened squeak from Kat. She had stopped her silent prayers and had pressed herself against the wall of the room. Kat was looking frantically from me to my dad's wand.

"Shut up you filthy squib!" snapped my father. He moved away from me and began stalking toward Kat. He raised his free hand at her. Predictably, Kat flinched and closed her eyes. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" he screamed like a deranged man and grabbed a fistful of her hair.

I whipped out my own wand and pointed it at thing I was ashamed to call my father and shouted, "Let her go! I'm warning you!" He ignored me and I didn't hesitate. Unfortunately, neither did my more sober step- mother.

"i Expelliarmus! /i" Olivia shouted. My wand flew through the air and landed in her waiting palm. "Be lucky that's the only spell I used!" she added smirking.

I made to move toward her when a whimper to my right caught my attention. My father had released Kat's hair, but was twisting her wrist around in an obviously painful manner. Up until now she had remained perfectly quiet and I couldn't help but feel a tiny burst of pride at how resilient Kat was to this. That feeling was almost immediately overridden not by anger; I was past that, but by hatred.

Cold, hard, hatred obscured my judgment and propelled me to do something really stupid. Forgetting the fact that I did not have my wand and that my father was an experienced wizard I rushed at him, not knowing what I was going to do; only knowing that I wanted to hurt that pathetic excuse for a human being as much as possible.

Needless to say, he anticipated my attack. The only good that did was his releasing of my sister. He let go of her and she fell to the floor gasping form the pain in her arm.

My father raised his wand with his hand and said the one spell even I had never expected my father to utter.

"Crucio!"

The pain, the feeling of fiery swords plunging into every inch of my body was unbearable. Even I couldn't hold in my screams for longer than a second. I was dimly aware of another voice, Kat's, screaming along with me. Only she was screaming actual words, trying to get our father to stop. A few seconds later he did. Panting, I stood up shakily.

"Weak," spat Olivia

I didn't listen. I was too busy getting aware of my surroundings. Blinking to focus my eyes, I looked around the room, my bedroom. It was spotless. The bed perfectly made and under the window, the desk well organized and tucked next to the door and the hardwood clear of any and all debris. The only thing out of place the trunk sitting in the center of the space.

"Get out of my sight. I'm ashamed to call you my son," said my father vindictively.

I moved towards my trunk. As I passed Kat I slipped my hand into my pocket and discreetly pressed a folded up piece of parchment into her palm. I grabbed the handle to my trunk and dragged it to the door. Olivia took my wand and threw it at my feet. I snatched it up and left the room. Once outside of that hell- hole I call a home I turned sharply and disapparated to King's Cross train station. Nothing like a family send- off for Hogwarts, I thought bitterly.

I appeared in a dingy alleyway about a block from the station. I took a moment to catch my breath before setting off at a brisk pace toward King's Cross. Inside the station I increased my pace as I approached the barrier between Platforms nine and ten. When I had reached it I leaned in on the middle of the barrier and vanished out of the muggle world.

On the other side of the barrier I began walking toward the bright red steam engine known as the Hogwarts Express. I came up to it and pulled open a door and boarded the train. Then I walked up the corridor, peering into every compartment I came across looking for my friends, and my girlfriend.

"Dev, is that you?" asked someone from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and there she was. Dominique Elise Weasley, my girlfriend. She looked a bit tired, but her crystal blue eyes were shining as always. Her silvery blonde hair was pulled back with a flower clip and she was already wearing her Hogwarts robes.

"Hey," I greeted, forcing a weak smile onto my face. She saw through the act almost at once.

Dominique came up and closed the distance between us. Her soft white hands came up to my pale sweaty face and touched my cheek delicately. I felt my breathing come up short. Dominique's brow creased in concern and she bit her bottom lip. Her eyes however showed frustration and defiance.

"Why do you keep on letting him do this?" she wondered aloud. "What was it this time?" she demanded, taking a step back from me and crossing her arms over her chest.

"He grabbed Kat," I mumbled in a defeated sort of way. "What else was I supposed to do? Let him hurt her."

"You could—" Dom started.

I cut her off. "I can't they'd send her to an orphanage or a foster home in the muggle world and then I won't be able to do anything."

Dom's hard expression softened. We had had this conversation before and it always ended the same way.

"It was different this time." It wasn't a question, but a statement. I closed my eyes.

"Dom," I started.

"Right, I get it not now, but later," she replied.

"Thank you. Where's everyone else?" I asked, changing the subject.

Dominique looked at me knowingly, but didn't say anything else about it. "Back here, come on," she gestured for me to follow.

The train ride was fairly quiet. James and Fred got into an argument about Quidditch, Rowena tried (and failed) to get us interested in her Divination textbook, and Lena entertained us by describing her family vacation to the Caribbean islands. Things were going fine until she decided to say this: "… and oh my I met the cutest guy there, he was so sweet."

There was an awkward pause after this as everyone in the compartment except for Fred and Lena turned to Fred to see his reaction. His face held a closed expression and after a second or two he blinked and looked at us.

"What?" he asked annoyed. We turned away. I began casting around for a change in subject as that awkward silence settled back in the air.

"So this is our last year, isn't it?" I said lamely. Dominique gasped and everyone turned to look at her weirdly.

"Merlin, you're right. This is going to be the last First of September Hogwarts Express train ride to Hogwarts ever," Dominique spoke in an awed voice.

"Really, Dom, you're going to get all sentimental on us on the first day of school? We're nowhere near the end of the year," exclaimed Steve incredulously.

Dominique paid him no heed. "This is going to be our last first day of school," she continued.

"Stop it, Dom, you're going to make me cry," interrupted Lena, whose eyes were very watery indeed.

Fred snorted. "Yeah, Dom, we wouldn't want Princess Lena's make up to run," he put in vindictively. Lena's eyes narrowed in his direction. She opened her mouth to say something back, but James beat her to it.

"Give it a rest you two. You'd think after a full two months apart, you two would be able to get over the break up and at least act like the friends you're supposed to be." He rolled his eyes. Both Fred and Lena glared at him, but said nothing more. A few minutes later we decided to change out of our muggle clothes as we'd be reaching Hogwarts soon.

When the train slowed to a stop we all got out and started walking in the direction of the carriages that would carry us to the castle. The rather cool night held a soft breeze as I reached the first carriage. I got in first, followed by Dominique, then Fred, James, Steve, Rowena, and lastly, Lena. I suspected Lena had gotten in last so as to be as far away from Fred as possible.

The carriage ride to the castle was bumpy and uncomfortable. My head kept on being hit against the ceiling of the coach, which was irritating. Dominique also realized that this was the last beginning of the year carriage ride we would ever be on. She demanded a moment of silence to recognize this and the fact that this was the last first day of Hogwarts we would ever have so forcefully that James asked if the reason for all this emotion was because it her time of the month. Dominique smacked him. I hid a grin.

Upon entering the Great Hall, our group branched off. I walked off in the direction of the Slytherin table after giving Dom a quick peck on the cheek, Rowena left for the Ravenclaw table despite James begging her to sit at the Gryffindor table, Lena walked off for Hufflepuff followed by Dominique. That left James, Fred, and Steve to leave for the Gryffindor table.

As much as I tried to, I couldn't focus on the Sorting ceremony. Instead, I was thinking about what might be happening at home. I sincerely hoped Kat was okay, though I really doubted it, it made me feel slightly better to know I could still hope. She didn't deserve this, any of it. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths to gain control of my emotions. Unwarranted, I dropped into a memory.

_ i "Is it going to sting?" Kat whispered as she held out her arm on which was a bubbling burn mark the size of a golf ball._

_ I sighed. I couldn't lie, not to her at least. "Yes," I replied, "but it won't hurt as much later, okay?"_

_ She nodded and I cautiously began spreading the cool peach colored salve over the burn from a hot coal in the fireplace. Kat gasped slightly where it touched the mark but bit her lip as her eyes watered in pain. When I was finished with the healing salve, I grabbed some gauze and started dressing the wound. Once done with that, I pulled her long sleeve shirt over her wrapped arm to where the gauze would no longer show and wasn't noticeable._

_ "There, now just remember to wear long sleeves until a few days after its completely healed or else they'll get suspicious," I instructed wearily. It was two in the morning after all. Kat had had to wait until father and Olivia were fast asleep before coming to get treated._

_ She stood up to leave and was almost at the bathroom door before I called her back._

_ "Kat, come here," I said softly. She turned around and edged back toward me I gestured for her to sit down on my lap. Kat was only eight so she wasn't very heavy. I settled my little sister on my lap where I was sitting on the edge of the marble tub and rested my chin on top of her head._

_ "Dev, what is it?" she asked, her voice all quiet and full of the tiny bit childhood wonder that hadn't been taken from her._

_ "I want to make a promise, a promise to you. I promise you, Kat, that I will get you out of here, that you will go to school, and that you will never have to see that awful man ever again. I promise and you know I never break my promises," I answered with such surety that I, as a thirteen year old, had never known existed. "I will get you out of here," I vowed in my sleep deprived state, "I will." /i_

I broke out of the memory and was brought back to the present by Headmistress McGonagall's voice making the beginning of the year announcements.

"… I would also like to inform you that a past student will be rejoining you for this year as she will be an apprentice for Professor Slughorn who will be hoping to permanently retire in a few years time. Professor Slughorn will fill you in on how this will work during your first Potions lesson of the year. I'm sure all of you will wish Ms. Weasley good luck in her apprenticeship. Now, enjoy this wonderful feast," Professor McGonagall finished her speech and sat down.

Inwardly cursing myself for not paying attention to the announcements, I turned to the food in front of me and immediately started filling up. At the end of the feast, I headed in the direction of the Slytherin dormitories. I passed Dominique while she was going in the direction of the Hufflepuff dorm and waved to her and Lena. She smiled, but Lena didn't seem to notice; she was involved in a discussion with another girl from her house.

I wasn't in the mood to talk with my dorm mates when I reached the Seventh year boys' dorms. I changed out of my school robes and into my pajamas quickly and was asleep within the next minute.


	3. The Potion Master's Apprentice

Chapter Three: The Potion Master's Apprentice

_i Rowena: /i_

The morning was bright and crisp. The sun's rays drifted into my dormitory lazily stretching across the length of the room as though they were half- awake themselves. I watched them progress from my seated position on my bed. The deep blue hangings of the four- poster were pulled back, so I could see the light coming in from the window off to the right side of the bed.

The room was silent. All the other girls in the room were still asleep. Their hangings were firmly closed around the beds. Only the sounds of breathing penetrated the dim circular room. I felt a light chill and pulled my knees up tighter against my chest. I should be asleep, I knew. There was at least another hour before I had to start getting ready for the day. For the fourth day in a row, I was awake long before I needed to be. I didn't quite understand it, but I'd always felt better in the early dawn, when the light of day was just appearing on the horizon. It was a safe feeling, a sense of renewal.

I never closed the hangings around my bed. To me, it was better to keep them open and let the night and morning in to greet you. Close to an hour later, the morning sunlight had completely filled the dormitory, and my fellow classmates were awakening. Groggily, they pushed their bed curtains aside revealing mussed hair, hands rubbing eyes.

While I went about my morning routine in relative silence, the other girls chatted as they pulled tangles out of their hair and slipped into their robes. I didn't mind them, they weren't mean exactly. They would talk with me occasionally, and sometimes they would ask for help with an assignment, which I would happily agree to doing, but they weren't my friends. And neither they nor I really regretted that.

During breakfast, I did not join with the conversations around, though they were interesting enough. Instead, I focused on finishing my porridge and checking my book bag to make sure I had enough quills for the lessons today. When I finished my meal, I stood up from the Ravenclaw table and made my way to Professor Flitwick, the short Charms Professor to receive my class schedule. The aging man smiled at me as I approached. He was just giving two fourth years their sheets of parchment listing their classes with times. The students had left by time I reached Flitwick.

"Ah, Ms. Scamander," Professor Flitwick greeted me. I tried hard not to flinch at the name, but to no avail: a slight spasm went across my face, and I sure my professor noticed. He looked uncomfortable. "Er, Ms. Lovegood, sorry a force of habit," squeaked Flitwick.

I smiled reassuringly. "No harm done, sir," I replied smoothly.

"Well, um, you're here for your schedule, I presume?" he asked.

"Yes, I'll be taking the same classes as last year," I told him.

The Charms Professor nodded and tapped a sheet of parchment with his wand. "Professor Trelawney will be pleased. She tells me you're her best student. Personally, I'm not surprised, your mother was a dab hand at Divination if I remember correctly," Flitwick praised, handing me my schedule and placing his wand into the pocket of his deep blue robes bordered with bronze thread, the Ravenclaw house colors as befitted the Ravenclaw Head of House.

"Thank you, sir," I responded.

"I will see you in class then—" he hesitated "—Ms. Lovegood."

I nodded and left the Great Hall. Once I stepped out of the Hall I looked around to see if I could spot James or my other friends in the Entrance Hall.

"Oi, Rowena, over here," called a voice to my right. I looked over in that direction and saw James waving me over to him. Standing next to him was Fred, who was looking intently at his schedule, Steve, who was holding a conversation with Deven and Dominique, and Lena, who was busily scratching at a sheet of parchment with a quill.

"What do your classes look like?" I asked James once I had reached the group.

"I have Arithmancy, Double- Defense, and then a free period. What about you?" he asked.

I glanced down at the sheet of parchment. "A free period right now, and then Defense with you guys, and last Potions," I replied.

"I guess I'll see you for Defense, then." James smiled, gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I waved to my friends as they went to their first classes. Deven said he was taking Arithmancy as well as Fred and James. Dominique and Lena were going to Herbology. And Steve had a free period as well.

"What do you plan on doing?" Steve asked once our friends had left the entrance hall.

"I actually have a meeting with Professor Trelawney. She wanted to talk to me about something at the feast, and told me to meet her this morning," I answered.

Steve's brow crinkled in confusion. "She knew you had a free period today?"

"I know you guys think she's a fraud, but there are some things she knows," I replied. Steve still looked skeptical as we started heading up the staircase. He shook his head as if amused, but willing to play along. I rolled my eyes in response. "What are you going to do during the free period, then?" I changed the subject.

"I'm not sure. I might go flying, unless you don't mind me tagging along with your meeting," Steve responded, rubbing his neck. I smiled at him.

"No, I don't mind. As long as you don't mind climbing a ton of stairs," I teased.

"Please, stairs are no problem for me," he retorted.

Ten minutes later Steve was panting for breath and I could tell he was regretting his choice to come along with me. He must've been bored. None of my friends shared my view that Professor Trelawney was a good Seer. They all thought her a fraud; even though she was not as powerful a Seer as her ancestor, but she still knew about Divination despite her fascination with the morbid.

"Oh, come on, how you are not tired after that staircase?" demanded Steve incredulously. I laughed lightly.

"I'm a little tired, too, it's just I'm used to this route by now," I replied.

"So, where's the classroom?" Steve changed the subject.

"Oh, right up there," I pointed up to the circular trap- door in the ceiling. "She's expecting me, it should come down soon."

As if hearing what I had said, the door opened and silvery rope step ladder tumbled down from the hole in front of us. I stepped up and put my foot on the bottom rung. When I was halfway up the ladder I called down to Steve, "You're coming, right?"

He nodded and pulled himself up on the ladder as well. We both came into the classroom that looked like the storage room of a tea shop. Armchairs and poufs were scattered around the room with small round tables in the center of clumps of chairs. The fireplace in the far corner of the circle- shaped tower room was blazing with heavily perfumed flames and casting flickering shadows along the walls. The heavy mauve curtains at the rectangular windows were pulled together closes enough to show a sliver of sunlight streaming into the room. It was hot and humid and made anyone feel sleepy and slow.

"Ms. Lovegood, so glad you could visit," said a misty voice from the shadows beyond the fireplace.

"Professor Trelawney, good morning. I hope you don't mind I've brought a friend to our meeting. Professor, this is Steve Helm. Steve, you've seen Professor Trelawney around school, at the feasts."

Professor Trelawney smiled as she came closer into the light; her overlarge glasses, glittering in the minimal light. "You don't take Divination, do you, Mr. Helm?" she asked.

"Er, no, I don't," Steve responded.

"Should we start?" I asked.

"Why, yes of course. Come close, here at this table. You take a seat as well, Mr. Helm." Professor Trelawney adjusted one of her gauzy shawls, a shimmering purple one, over her right shoulder, and froze. Blinking behind her over- large spectacles, Trelawney turned around to look sharply at Steve. He stared back with more than a little apprehension from his position on a pink pouf. "You've never betrayed anyone have you, Mr. Helm?" the elder Professor demanded of him.

Steve gaped for a moment before replying, "Not that I know of, no."

Trelawney looked for a moment as if she was disappointed, but the look vanished just as quickly as it had come. Her gaze found mine and she gestured for me to take a seat. I did and then proceeded to wait for Professor Trelawney to speak first as she always did during our sessions.

What had just happened with Steve was not unnatural for anyone who had spent more than an hour with the Divination Professor, but Steve who only knew the Professor from secondhand descriptions from me and third-hand from James, who heard stories from his father, obviously wasn't prepared for what transpired. I flashed him a reassuring look once I had settled across from him on a pouf similar in color to Steve's, but looking more worn. Professor Trelawney chose a seat at my left, and closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them, she turned in my direction and asked "My dear, how was your summer?"

"Oh, well it was fine, I finished that extra work you set me before the end of last year, I have it here if you wanted to look at it," I started but stopped seeing that the Professor was shaking her head as if I'd answered the question wrong.

"Your dreams; how were your dreams?" Trelawney clarified.

It had been because of my dreams that I had started going to these sessions. They had begun in my fifth year. I started having odd dreams, of past and present things, and later possible futures. I had been told in my third year of Hogwarts that I had the makings of a Seer. In my fifth year, I began seeing just how powerful a Seer I could be. Dreams were hard enough to interpret, and a Seers dreams even harder. I noticed Steve looking confused. I didn't really talk about my Seer abilities with my friends, mostly because it would be difficult for them to understand if they weren't Seers as well.

But how had my dreams been?

"Nearly all of them have been memories," I answered softly, screwing up my face in an effort to remember, "memories of times before I came to Hogwarts, with just my mother, father, and brothers."

"Any one memory in particular?" asked Professor Trelawney. I could tell she was attempting to hold in her excitement, but it wasn't working. Her eyes were shining delightedly as I nodded.

"Yes," I began, quieter still, "The day of the trial."

"Whose trial, my dear?" my professor pressed eagerly.

"My father's trial," I replied taking a deep breath.

Trelawney nodded and leaned forward. Across the table Steve's eyes widened slightly, but other than that he gave no other reaction. I had never bothered telling anyone about the day of the trial, and out of respect my friends hadn't asked.

"Was the dream the same as the memory?" continued Trelawney, "Or was there a change in the dream?"

"Well—" I stopped "—I'm not really sure if it means anything, but there was only one difference. And it seemed fairly minor to me."

"My dear, remember: even the barest- seeming details can make all the difference when dealing in this art."

"Okay, it was a pin," I finished.

"A pin?" she seemed even more eager now than a minute before. "Be specific, what sort of pin, what did it look like?"

"Gold, round like an oval, but a ring." I had my eyes closed, trying to picture what it looked like in my mind. "It had markings on the outer edge, like scales, and in the center… in the center…"

"Yes?" Trelawney prompted, leaning closer. The very room seemed to grow still. Anticipation thickened in the air, mingling with the perfume scent from the fireplace, which did not seem nearly as heavy in the room as the weight of the words coming from my mouth.

"…Was a silver heart with a bronze wand down the center," I whispered, remembering. I opened my eyes and looked around. Steve was wearing a puzzled expression, as if trying to remember if he had ever seen a pin like the one I had described. Professor Trelawney looked vaguely disappointed, but asked another question nonetheless.

"Who was wearing the pin?"

I was confused at the question; shouldn't it be obvious given the main focus of the dream? "My—my father," I responded.

"Ah, of course, but… was there nothing else in your dream? No impending destruction, death… you didn't see a lifeline cut short? The Divination teacher prodded.

"No, just the pin," I sighed. I hadn't really thought it meant anything; the pin was probably a relic from his past that claimed a role in his future, something that might have been helpful or not to his case, but had been lost. I shook my head; it made no matter the trial had ended four years ago, the dreams three. And yet…and yet they decided to return, James' too.

"Row?" the sound of Steve's concerned voice brought my thoughts and me back down to earth.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You sort of spaced out for a moment there."

"Oh, did I?"

"Yes, you did, did you See anything?" inquired Trelawney.

"Er, no, I didn't." I looked down at my watch and noticed with a start that it was nearly time for D.A.D.A.

"The time draws to a close, I sense," said Professor Trelawney. She stood up abruptly. "We will have to meet again, crystal gazing would respond best."

I nodded and stood as well. "Thank you for listening, Professor."

"Anytime, dear, it is always a pleasure. And you, Mr. Helm—" she pointed sharply at Steve, who had gotten up as well and was now edging toward the exit. At the Professor's words, however, he turned back, his expression wary "—Beware of fire in your throat, it may cost you a friend and perhaps someone more."

"'Fire in your throat'… What does that mean?" Steve demanded. We were at the beginning of the corridor leading to the Defense classroom. If we didn't get there in the next fifteen seconds we'd be late.

"I don't know Steve. You shouldn't take everything Trelawney says seriously, she likes dramatics, and probably wanted to impress you or something." I didn't want Steve to know that what the professor said really bothered me. Most likely it is what I said, I thought, I'll worry about that later, right now I needed to get to class.

We burst into the room with five seconds to spare. Three fourths of the class turned their heads to stare at us. The room was lit brightly with torches in brackets by the walls, not many, because unlike the Divination classroom, the curtains in the Defense classroom was pulled back letting in the sunlight illuminating the hard stone floor in shafts. At the front of the room Professor Padma Patil had turned away from the blackboard to look at the interruption.

"How nice of you two to join us," she remarked thinly. "Please take your seats. I'll excuse this because it is the first day of classes, but both of you are seventh years and should know better time management by now."

"Sorry, Professor, we were held up in a meeting," I apologized quickly, and moved to sit down. Steve muttered an apology from behind me and sat down next to Lena in the second row of desks. I walked passed them and took a seat next to James. Professor Patil turned back to the board and raised the chalk, her navy blue robes rippling down to the ground. I tilted my head towards James'.

"What did I miss?" I whispered out of the corner of my mouth while pulling out a sheet of parchment.

"Nothing really, just explaining what's to be expected this year," James whispered back.

"Today we will just be taking notes reviewing what was learned last year. Next class, we are reviewing the Patronus'."

Just as Patil had promised we took notes for the rest of class.

"Lunchtime, the best time of the day," sighed Fred as we exited the room.

"Do you ever think of anything besides food?" asked Lena. I inwardly sighed; I had hoped they wouldn't start on each other. The tension on the train ride had been bad enough.

"No, in fact I think of a lot of things other than food, like my future, global warming, and of course, what life would be like if we ate rainbows and could speak Unicorn," Fred retorted in a very serious tone. There was second or two of silence before James, Steve, and Dominique started laughing. Fred looked offended. "I was serious, rainbows are an excellent source of light; it's remarkable, really."

"Uh- huh, well I'm going to eat now," Deven remarked giving Fred a strange look, because at that moment we had reached the Great Hall. He pulled open one of the double- doors and walked inside.

Fred stopped talking about the health benefits of eating rainbows and said, "Now where was I? Of course, lunch. Ladies, if you'll excuse me." He inclined his head to each one of us remaining and followed Deven into the Hall.

"He's acting odder than usual," commented Steve.

"Really?" asked Lena, "I didn't notice anything different. Dom, are you coming?" Lena absentmindedly re- arranged the yellow colored bangles on her wrist before gesturing toward the door Deven had just disappeared into.

Dominique nodded and both she and Lena went into the Great Hall. James, Steve, and I followed, me shaking my head slightly. This actually had been what it was like when the two of them had been dating, the banter and teasing the two of them had done with each other. But now it felt different somehow.

Before I could make my way further into the room, my path was blocked by a tall woman, looking around her late teens, decked in long black robes edged with silver. The robes were long, but not so long that I couldn't see the shiny high- heeled shoes underneath them. The robes were simple enough, not wholly expensive, but not ratty either, just casual. The person wearing them, however, was something else entirely.

Dark brown hair was pulled back in a loose bun at the nape of her neck, complete with silver colored streaks. The woman's eyes were a clear bright blue, hard and cold. A dark red lipstick adorned her rosebud lips and made her white porcelain skin stand out more prominently. And around the lady's neck was a fine gold chain with a startling green emerald dangling from it, just barely visible from the top of the robes. She was a commanding presence as she noticed us and turned to address us.

"James," Lucy Weasley said in way of greeting, "It's so good to see you again." Without warning she reached out and hugged her younger cousin briefly, before turning to address the rest of us. "Rowena, it's good to see you too, and –Steve is it? - nice to see you as well," Lucy nodded.

"Oh, yeah, um, I wasn't expecting to see you here, but then McGonagall announced your apprenticeship," muttered James, looking slightly taken aback at his cousin's sudden appearance. "Why didn't you mention it before though?"

Lucy waved the question off. "Oh, I wanted it to be a surprise for you, Fred, and Dominique. Besides, Dad wouldn't like me giving up the Ministry for an apprenticeship anyway, so it's better that he didn't find out until I was already here. I expect I'll be getting a howler tomorrow." She laughed softly.

James obviously didn't know how to respond to that, but luckily Lucy began to talk again and was saved the trouble of having to.

"How many of you are taking Potions this year?"

"Um, all of us, except for Lena, I think," I replied.

"Good, I'll see you all after lunch, then," Lucy exulted before walking past us and out of the Great Hall.

"Er, that was interesting," Steve ventured after a moment.

James frowned. "Lucy hates surprises. She prefers knowing about everything, so there is no possibility of ever being surprised. What she said doesn't make sense."

I shrugged. "Maybe it was what she said about your uncle?" I suggested.

"I forget, which of your uncle's is her father?" asked Steve.

"Percy, how could you forget? They're exactly alike!" exclaimed James as we reached the Gryffindor table.

"Right," Steve nodded taking a seat and pulling the nearest platter of food to him—A large tureen of Yorkshire pudding—and immediately spooning a large serving onto his plate.

"Well I should go to my own table," I told them, turning around in the direction of the Ravenclaw table. James started protesting.

"You don't need to do that. McGonagall and the other Professors won't mind," He reasoned. I shrugged in assent.

"Sure," I sat down next to Steve, James sitting on my other side, and began filling my plate. As I was doing this, Fred came up and sat across from Steve. I looked up while he was approaching and saw that we weren't in as an isolated part of Gryffindor table as I had thought. James' cousins and brother were seated about two people away on the right, but hadn't noticed us yet.

"Was that Lucy?" Fred asked. He turned his head to watch Lucy exit the Hall.

"Yeah," James nodded.

Fred shook his head. "I really don't get her. She goes her whole life aspiring to become the head of a department at the Ministry, and then throws it all away to become a professor's apprentice because her boyfriend dumped her."

Roxanne leaned away from her conversation with Rose and faced her brother. "Fred, Lucy didn't drop out of her job because she was dumped. She and Lysander weren't even dating, besides, Lysander left without warning. And even if the two of them weren't dating, they had something going on; he shouldn't have left in the first place."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. While this was true, it wasn't fun to hear Roxanne talking about my brother like that. Roxanne noticed me then, and went red slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything," she apologized, shaking her head, embarrassed.

"Roxy, it's okay, it's fine; I'm not the first to say that Lysander is an idiot, and I definitely won't be the last," I laughed softly, smiling at Roxanne, assuring.

"Roxy, we should go," said Rose. The redhead stood up and grabbed her bag, and motioned for Roxanne to follow. Albus stood up as well and nodded farewell to us, and followed his cousins out of the Great Hall.

Fred cleared his throat. "Um, Row, about what I said…" he trailed off.

I shook my head, "forget about it, Fred, its fine." He started to protest. I put up a hand to stop him. "And if you say another word about it, I will put _Silencio_ on you," I told Fred happily. I piled some roast potatoes onto my plate and listened in on the conversation between Steve and James.

"…I'm planning on starting the trials next weekend. Gryffindor needs a new reserve, maybe two, but the team from last year is good enough to continue this year," James was saying. He was the Gryffindor Quidditch team Captain.

Steve nodded, "Just as long as you don't kick me off the team." Steve was a Beater on the team along with Fred.

Fred realized a few minutes later that it was nearly time for the next class. With a scrape of wood on stone, we stood and gathered our book bags. The four of us caught up with Dominique, Lena, and Deven as we were leaving the Great Hall. Outside, Fred, Lena, and Steve broke off from the group to head in different directions.

"Fred, I thought you were taking Potions too," mused Dominique.

Fred grinned uncomfortably. "No, I'm not taking Potions this year."

"You took Potions last year," frowned James.

James and Dom's red haired cousin shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, and failing, said, "I didn't like it."

James' frown deepened. "But Uncle George uses potion- making to make his products, and you're supposed to be his partner once you leave school," he stated, still confused. Fred got a look on his face, not unlike Hagrids' when he accidentally reveals a piece of information he shouldn't have. The expression was gone in the next second, replaced by a look of amusement.

"Oh, James, dear sweet cousin, secrets are meant to be kept not told. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to get to." Without further explanation, Fred turned tail, and walked up the marble staircase leading out of the Entrance Hall. We all stared after him for a few seconds before someone decided to speak up.

"Okay… something is definitely wrong with him," affirmed Dominique, nodding her head in agreement with herself.

"I agree; he's acting odder than usual. I thought he wanted to work at the shop after Hogwarts," Lena murmured. After a moment, she shook her head and turned to address the group as a whole. "Um, anyways, I'm not taking Potions either. I've got a free period, so I'm heading back to the common room. I'll see you guys at dinner." With a wave of her hand which jingled with the bangles on her wrist, Lena left down a side corridor off the Great Hall to the Hufflepuff common room.

"And I have Care of Magical Creatures to go to," Steve spoke up. He turned, then, and walked outside of the castle.

The ones of us left in the Entrance Hall turned in the direction of the dungeons to go to our Potions class. As usual, even with the rest of the castle warm, the dungeons grew colder as we progressed forward. My toes were numb upon reaching the door.

Inside there were torches lit on the walls, and small clumps of desks scattered around the room vaguely facing the teachers' desk at the opposite end of the room. We were the last ones in the class. Minus Fred the students taking Potions were the same as last year, four Slytherins—Dita Zellner, Nolan Ulman, Torin Goyle, and our own Deven Conway; one Hufflepuff, Dominique; three Gryffindors, James, Grady Waldgrave, and Rhona Ide; and three Ravenclaws, Avena Adock, Jared Welby, and me.

Professor Slughorn was at the front of the room; gesturing jovially for us to have a seat. James grabbed a large table that was roughly in the middle of the room. We sat down, and Professor Slughorn called for our attention. "Welcome back for your final year. Get out your supplies and we'll start just as soon as my apprentice, Lucy, gets here." The class followed his instructions. Just as I was setting up the cauldron on the desk the door opened, and Lucy strode in.

"I'm so sorry I'm late Horace," she apologized as she reached the desk and the Professor standing behind it.

"That's quite all right m'dear. I was just going to brief them on the potion for the day once you'd arrived." The portly professor addressed the class, "Students, this is Miss Lucy Weasley, my apprentice for the year and maybe the next. She will be assisting in lessons." Lucy smiled thinly at the class, and looked as though she were determining our worth as potion brewers with just her cold blue eyes. From the table on our right I saw Rhona Ide shudder slightly at her gaze.

"I look forward to working with you," Lucy stated.

Slughorn beamed at his old student. "We will start today with a version of Veritaserum less potent than the one used by the ministry. The instructions will be on page ten of your books and on the blackboard. If you have any questions at all, talk to me or Miss Weasley as we will be walking around the room."

Obediently the class turned to the correct page of their books, and after five minutes everyone was fully intent on their work.

Five minutes before the end of class, Slughorn stopped the classes' working to go around the room once more to see the final results. Lucy followed close behind him, and occasionally giving her own comments or suggestions to the brewer. The professor came to our table last. He seemed strangely reluctant to come to the table at all; especially when confronted with Dominique's cauldron, which was the closest cauldron to him upon reaching the table.

"Good," he grunted before turning away. Once Slughorn had his attention on James' potion I saw Dominique roll her eyes in annoyance. The potions master said James' potion was a bit too cloudy and had a consistency not like father's potions when he was at school, or like his brother's in the year below us; and mine had room for improvement. But when Slughorn reached Deven's cauldron his demeanor changed from approving professor to giddy schoolboy.

"Oho, m'boy, very nice, no vapors at all, it's perfect," Slughorn exulted. "You ought to think long and hard at a career in potion making m'boy, you'd do well."

Deven, unused to the praise, went slightly red. "Erm, thank you, sir," he said softly.

Lucy leaned in from behind her old teacher and nodded her own approval. "Well done, Mr. Conway, I wonder if I could have done any better," she praised.

James' eyebrows went up in surprise. Obviously, this coming from his cousin was very high praise, indeed. Professor Slughorn glanced at the clock next to the classroom door and seemed to notice it was time to go. "Your assignment for tonight is a sixteen inch report on the main differences between the potion you brewed today and the one used exclusively by the Ministry of Magic. You are dismissed," he finished.

We were some of the last people still left in the class when I noticed that Dominique was who was slowing us down. She had been taking a particularly long time in packing up her potion ingredients. James cleared his throat.

"Do you need any help?" he asked. Dominique blinked and shook her head.

"No, you guys go on ahead," she told us. "I wanted to ask Professor Slughorn something."

James, Deven, and I left the room. We decided to wait for her outside the room before going to find Lena, Fred, and Steve. It was only a few minutes before the door opened again and Dominique came out. She seemed partly annoyed with something and partly pleased.

"So you asked him?" inquired Deven.

"Asked him what?" demanded James.

Dom started up the corridor to the entrance hall. The rest of us turned and followed. Once we had caught up Dominique answered in a hushed tone, "I asked Slughorn if he could tutor me in brewing the Wolfsbane potion."

There was a few seconds silence for the information to sink in before James spoke up.

"What did he say?"

An irritated expression crossed Dominique's face as she responded. "No, of course, Lucy offered after that."

"She knows how to brew it?" James was surprised. Dominique shrugged.

"She said that she had learned how a few years ago. She said she'd be happy to show me."

Deven spoke up then. "Why do you want to learn?"

"I'm going to be using St. Mungo's to get the potion, but I still should know how to brew it myself."

"I think that's a good idea," I commented. Dominique smiled, and then frowned.

"You're still bothered about something," continued Deven.

"Professor Slughorn is being ridiculous. He's been like this since my first year. I've never once given him any reason to be uneasy around me, yet he still acts like a skittish squirrel when he has to be near me. It's like I'm a taboo, or something."

It was after dinner. I was in the Ravenclaw common already working on Slughorn's report. I was the only one left awake. Even Ravenclaws didn't immediately start working on assignments after only the first day. I couldn't get to sleep, so I decided to start on the report. It was very quiet, only the sound of the crackling fire and the scratching of my quill were the only sounds to be heard. To me, it felt peaceful, kneeling here next to the coffee table, and feeling the warmth from the fire. I closed my eyes to savor the peaceful moment. The letter ruined it all.

There was a tapping at the window of the common room. Sighing, I stood up to see what it was. The owl was of the screech variety, a brown one with black markings, and I recognized it immediately. My brother, Lysander, who I hadn't heard from in a month, had sent me a letter. I opened the window and let Jazz, Lysander's owl, in. I untied the scroll of parchment eagerly. Jazz flew out the window without a second thought. I moved to the fireplace to read the letter in the better light.

_Dear Rowena,_

_ It has certainly been a while since I have last contacted you or the family. I am sorry for causing you, Lorcan, and mum unneeded worry over the matter of where I am. Rest assured, I am fine, and I have already sent a letter home to tell them the same thing. I figured you'd want to hear from me personally rather than second-hand from Lorcan and mum._

_ The trip is going well. I've met some new people, and I'm enjoying learning about the different wizards of the world. Currently, I'm in South Africa, which is very different from Ottery St. Catchpole. I'll be home by the end of your school year, and I promise to tell you all about my adventures upon my return along with souvenirs._

_I hope to write again soon, but I am unable do not worry. Focus on your school work as I know you will do brilliantly in your N.E. when they come around._

_ Your brother,_

_ Lysander_

**Note: So sorry it this took so long. Hopefully this nice long chapter will make it up to you somewhat. Chapter four already has a basic outline, and things should start to pick up soon. Thank you for reading. Please review.**


	4. A Moon and a Teacup

Chapter Four: A Moon and a Teacup

_i Dominique: /i_

The wind made soft circles and waves in the grass as I strode forward. The sun was just setting, washing the previously blue sky in pink and orange and red. Despite the beautiful late afternoon, I didn't feel like I could appreciate it. I wasn't calm like I normally was outside. I never was on Full Moon days… at least; I was calm until that night six years ago. Had it really been that long ago? Six years is a long time, I reflected. Absentmindedly, I lifted my hand to the collar of my robes and curled my fingers inward to my left shoulder and felt the scarred and torn flesh that was a constant reminder of that night.

The Whomping Willow stood silent in the darkening afternoon, almost peaceful. I almost snorted; there was nothing peaceful about that tree. It was useful, sure, but peaceful? It loomed large and imposing. A commanding presence that drew your attention once you were close enough to see it. I could see it now. I could make out the designs in the bark as I approached it. Darting quickly in between the low hanging branches, and making sure I didn't brush against the branches and anger the tree, I reached the special knot that froze the tree just long enough for me to slip between a gap in the roots to the tunnel underneath the tree.

Seven years ago it was incredibly easy to go through this tunnel with only a slight crouch. Now, I had to practically crawl to fit in it. The journey was hot and humid. You'd think that with all the spells in existence, there'd be at least one that gave ventilation in a place like this. As I crawled along dirt and other bits of earth crumbled from the ceiling, and roots hit me in the face. It was slow going, but eventually I emerged into the old creaking building known as the Shrieking Shack.

Nothing had changed much over the years, except maybe there was more dust. The smell of rotting wood, mildew, and mold had definitely intensified. I stepped cautiously up the stairs watching for patches of weak wood where it could collapse. Through the gaps of wood the wind was still coming through, singing like pipes. I reached the room without incident, shut the door behind me and locked it.

Then I felt the moon begin to rise. I froze. Hair sprouted across myself, my mouth began to elongate as my teeth grew. There was a sharp splintering pain at the base of my spine while it grew into a tail. I sank onto my hands and knees, feeling bones snapping and knitting back together, re-arranging to fit the anatomy of a wolf. My ears twisted and navigated to the top of my head, growing pointed. Claws grew out of nails as the final transformations took place. An onslaught of smells and noises overwhelmed my senses before I could get used to them; mead and Firewhisky from the bars The Three Broomsticks and the Hog's Head from Hogsmeade village, the sound of the store bell in Honeydukes sweetshop, and people clicking their heels on the street to walk home.

And lastly, the werewolf's mind bubbled to the surface next to my own, fighting for control as always. An irrational hunger for human flesh took over momentarily; the urge to hunt for prey was so strong. But I had to be stronger, the potion allowed me to be stronger, to have control. No, I thought, no. The moment was over, the spell broken. I looked down and saw the white dappled grey fur that was my own.

Exhaustion and the last remnants of pain washed over me. I looked ahead to the boarded up window on the opposite wall. Streams of silver moonlight drifted inside the old room. Broken and chewed furniture littered the floor. A thick layer of dust was over everything. There was a pile of blankets arranged like a mattress in the corner of the room behind me, next to the door. I padded softly to them now. There wasn't as much dust on them as the rest of the room. The blankets hadn't been in use for a few months. The rest of the house hadn't been used for several years. I curled up on the blankets and was asleep within a minute.

The sun was in my eyes. What bothered me even more was the fact that my arm was too sore to move at the moment, and I couldn't shield my eyes. Instead, I groaned. Even that hurt.

"Good morning," said a voice somewhere off to my right.

"Deven, what are you doing here?" I asked. I opened my eyes and groaned again. "What day is it?"

"Saturday," he responded. He turned his head to call behind him, "Madam Lupin, she's up."

In response, I heard a door opening and saw my sister bustling towards the bed, carrying a tray with three glasses on it. Her hair was pulled back stiffly and she was wearing a playfully annoyed expression.

"Deven, you've known me for three years. You went to my wedding. I think we're past Madam Weasley or Lupin. For the last time, call me Victoire."

"Um, sorry," muttered Deven. Victoire rolled her eyes. She set the tray down on my lap after helping pull me into a somewhat sitting position.

"Don't apologize when you haven't done anything wrong," she laughed. Victoire turned to me. "Drink up, Dom. It may taste awful, but you'll appreciate it in the long run."

I grabbed the first glass and downed it in one gulp. It did taste awful, like mud and ash, but not as bad as the Wolfsbane potion which tasted like overheated bile and poison ivy. The next one was spicy with a peppery tang. And the one after that burned as it went down.

"Ugh, all these years and I still haven't gotten used to the taste," I remarked, placing the last glass back on the tray.

"As long as you can go through the day, they're doing their job," countered Victoire. She picked up the tray and went back to her office.

"What's the time?" I asked once the door of the office swung shut.

"Around eight in the morning," Deven answered.

"How long have you been here? I doubt that this is very exciting for you, you probably have loads of better things to do than watch me sleep," I muttered. I pushed the covers of the hospital bed back and stood up, wincing as I did. Deven got up from the chair he'd been sitting in to grab my arm and steady me while I wobbled in place.

"I've only been here for about an hour, and personally I don't really mind watching you sleep." Deven eased me into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. "Are you really supposed to be moving around so much just after you wake up?"

"No, she isn't," Victoire stated. She strode back up the ward, in between the two rows of bed back to mine before I could respond myself. "I leave for five minutes and already you're trying to sneak off. Is my company really that awful?"

"You know I don't like staying here any longer than necessary, Vic," I told her.

My sister got a very stern look on her pale face. "You will stay here until I see fit to release you. That's how it always is, Dom. I won't have you hurting yourself just because you're impatient."

"Okay, okay, give me the check," I assented. It was just a standard check, to see if I could function through the day. I didn't like it anymore than I liked being here.

"You all right?" asked Deven. I noticed then that he was sitting next to me and that I was leaning on him.

"Yeah, why?" I asked him, puzzled. I wasn't really tired and the pain was going away.

"Steam is coming out your ears."

"Oh, that, it's supposed to happen, don't worry," I replied.

Behind us, Victoire cleared her throat loudly. "As cute and cuddly as this moment is… Deven you need to get off the bed so I can check Dominique over."

"Erm, right," mumbled Deven, turning a delicate shade of red that made me laugh. He got off the bed and sat back down on his chair.

Vic waved her wand over me, murmuring spells under her breath. Once done she nodded, signifying I was allowed to leave. "Your robes are in the office. You can change there."

"Thanks," I said. Inside the office there was a desk and several file cabinets stacked against the wall. My sister had always been a very organized person, but by looking at her desk you couldn't tell. There were order forms and letters, cookbooks and magazines, and dozens of photographs all scattered haphazardly across the desk. On the chair were my robes from last night, freshly washed, and free of dirt and twigs. I dressed quickly and came back out to the wing where Deven and Vic were waiting.

"Should we go?" asked Deven. I nodded and said goodbye to my sister, promising to come by again before the next Full Moon.

Instead of taking me to the Great Hall for breakfast, Deven led me outside onto the grounds.

"What are we doing here? Deven, I'm hungry," I told him.

"Dominique Elise Weasley, are you whining?" Deven teased. He grabbed my hand and pulled me further into the dewy morning.

"No, I am not whining, I am curious," I justified. "And hungry," I added.

"Yeah, I got that. I also have food." He stared at me. "I'm not going to let you starve."

"Why didn't you tell me you had food?" I demanded. Deven pulled a paper bag from his robes and waved it in front of my face.

"Now that's sorted, follow me." Deven grabbed my arm and continued to lead me across the lawn, past the lake and into a small secluded area on the outskirts of the forest. We pushed past some bushes and sat down, leaned against a tree. Deven handed me the bag. I ripped it open and pulled out a jug of pumpkin juice and two roast beef sandwiches.

I unwrapped one and handed Deven the other. "I love you," I told him as I took a bite.

"I know."

"But why are we eating out here, and not inside the Great Hall?" I asked.

"The Great Hall's noisy," he explained.

I nodded, and took a swig of the juice. "Anyway, you promised me you'd tell me what happened over the summer on the train, and you haven't yet."

Deven pulled back, off guard. "Dom, I—"

"I know you don't like to talk about that part of your life, but…" I trailed off.

He sighed. "I didn't plan on keeping this from you, it's not like I can, really," he muttered. "Don't get mad when you hear this."

"I don't like conversations that start like this," I started.

"It was different than last time, he used a new spell." He wasn't looking at me anymore, but staring at the ground.

"What spell?" I whispered despite the fact that we were alone.

"_Crucio_," he whispered back. He was still staring at the ground. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees. The morning did not seem nearly as nice and bright as it had a few minutes ago.

"What?" I demanded. "He put the Cruciatus Curse on you? I'll kill him!"

"Dom, no, this is between me and him, and I don't want you to get involved," Deven said.

"How are you okay with this?" I asked him. "Your own father tortured you, and you don't want to do anything about it."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I can't do anything about it."

I sighed then and decided to drop it. It wouldn't be helping anything if I argued with him. What happened at Deven's house and the solution was not as simple as we made it sound.

"Okay," I said, "you've already told me why you can't leave that place. I'm sorry for bringing it up. Let's just forget about it."

"Don't be sorry, you wouldn't be you if you didn't demand to know everything about me." Deven chuckled weakly.

"Thanks."

We finished our late breakfast and headed back to the castle.

"The first Hogsmeade weekend is on Saturday," commented Jamesena while she ran a brush through her shiny black hair.

It had been about two weeks since the full moon, and the Hufflepuff seventh year girls were in our dormitory getting ready for bed. Curfew had been twenty minutes previous, meaning we could not leave the common room, but that didn't mean we were going to sleep anytime soon. After I had slipped into the bathroom to change into my nightclothes, I emerged to a discussion about what the girls were planning to do on the Hogsmeade weekend.

"I assume you, Dom, will be spending the day with your boyfriend," Jamesena continued, batting her eyelashes.

"Oh, stop, you'll be in the village with Liam Keelan, so I wouldn't talk," I retorted softly, trying to ignore the sudden warmth on my face.

Comya Foote snickered before asking, "so, Lena, what will you be doing, come Saturday?"

Lena was lying on her stomach on her bed writing one of our many essays for some class or another. She looked up at the question and shook her head. "I don't think I'll be going to Hogsmeade," she said.

"Well, why not?" McKenzie Iron wondered. "It's the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Everyone goes to that."

"I don't know; I just don't feel up to it. Besides, there's schoolwork I need to catch up on." We all looked at one another before bursting into laughter. As far as we were concerned Lena had always chosen pleasure over work. "Oh, come on, it's my final year. I figured I shouldn't leave assignments until the last minute." When we still looked disbelieving she scowled and told us that she was going to finish her essay in the common room.

Once the door swung shut behind her Jamesena said, "You guys don't think that had anything to do with Fred, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Comya wanted to know.

Jamesena rolled her eyes. "She and Fred broke up, like what?—five, six months ago. And since then they haven't been exactly friendly. Lena's just avoiding him now, isn't she?"

I frowned at the two of them. "We shouldn't be talking about Lena behind her back. Whatever happened between her and Fred is between the two of them and no one else."

"You're right, it's none of our business," McKenzie said abruptly. Jamesena and Comya looked abashed before saying they were going to bed. McKenzie went into the bathroom to take a shower. I shot her a grateful smile that she returned just before the door shut behind her.

I went to my own bed and pulled the hangings back to climb in. Jamesena and Comya were nice enough though we weren't terribly close. Both girls had eyes and ears for gossip, which made them a bit nosy, though they were good people at heart.

I pulled the covers back, and was about to get under them when a sharp tapping caught my attention. Coming out around the corner of the bedpost, I noticed an owl hovering outside the dormitory window. It was a Barn Owl with white and tan feathers and a broad flat face. I opened the window and let the owl in. It held out its leg stiffly, and I grabbed the rolled up piece of paper. I opened it to read.

_Dear Dom,_

_ I am writing to you with a request. I understand that this Saturday is the first Hogsmeade weekend of your school year. I hope you can take the time to meet with me about something important. I'll meet you at the Three Broomsticks at ten thirty. I hope you can make it._

_Your Brother,_

_Louis_

What did he need to talk to me about? I wondered. And why couldn't he say it in the letter? I sighed. I'll have to find out on Saturday, I suppose. It was probably nothing anyways. I looked up to send a response, but Raider had already disappeared through the narrow window. I closed the window and returned to my bed, placed the letter on the cabinet next to it.

When Saturday came, it was crisp and partly sunny. After a hurried breakfast of fried tomatoes and scrambled eggs with bacon, I went to the Slytherin table to bid Deven a good morning. I didn't often go over to the Slytherin table. Slytherins and Hufflepuffs didn't mix generally. But Deven didn't really interact with his fellow Slytherins. They didn't like me very much either, but I was tolerated. The Slytherins scowled at me as I approached.

"Conway," a large thickset fifth-year boy with crooked teeth said. "Your Weasel's here."

Deven was sitting with his back to me, but I could tell he was frowning all the same. "If anyone's a rodent here, Montague, it'd be you. If your face doesn't seal the deal, the memory of you scampering in the presence of a bludger will be all the convincing the student body needs to prove that you are indeed part squirrel." He stood up and grabbed my hand before I could say anything. Deven herded me out of the Great Hall as some of the Slytherins sitting near Deven began snickering.

"You didn't have to do that—"

"I know, but what I said wasn't much of an insult, and I was getting ready to leave anyways. Why did you come up to the table in the first place?" he interrupted. We were outside by now and traveling toward the school gates

"I needed to tell you that I'll be meeting you at the village at around eleven."

"Why?" he asked.

"My brother's coming by, and I said I'd meet him," I replied. Deven frowned in confusion. I didn't blame him. It wasn't often that Louis came by to visit. "He sent me a letter."

"Okay, I'll wait until you've met with him, and then we'll go out. Have fun with your brother." Deven leaned in, kissed my cheek, and turned back to the castle. Filch, the caretaker, was waiting for me to give my name so he could let me into the village. He sneered as I passed. The sky was cloudy with occasional bursts of sunlight coming through to warm the crisp air. The fall chill seeped into my sweater like a fog. I rubbed my arms to get them warmer. I was beginning to regret wearing that skirt, or at least not wearing stockings with it.

"Are you mad? Wearing a skirt that short?" I turned in the direction of the voice to see Louis leaning against one of the shops. My brother was tall and lean, with casually messy hair, cream white skin, and bright blue eyes same as my own. Today, he was wearing charcoal gray robes and black shoes poking from underneath. He was also wearing a disapproving scowl as he looked me up and down.

"It's not that short, Lou, and I think I'm more cold than mad," I retorted. Louis came forward.

"It's good to see you again," he told me. He started up the street to the Three Broomsticks. I followed him as he went and grabbed his arm just before he went in.

"Lou, what is it? You sent me a letter saying you needed to talk about something important."

"Once we're inside," he hissed. "Find a table, and I'll get drinks."

"Fine, but order me a Firewhisky." I didn't even like Firewhisky, but I knew that would annoy Louis. Sure enough his scowl got deeper.

"Butterbeer because I'm paying," Louis's tone brooked no argument.

I gave a long exaggerated sigh before saying, "Fair enough." I walked over to an empty table near the back of the crowded bar. Louis went to the front to get the drinks. While I was waiting, I looked around the bar. The lighting was dim and the room was loud. In the only completely Wizarding village, I saw two hags arguing, a group of goblins counting coins, and dozens of Hogwarts students all chatting about something or another. None of them were paying the least bit of attention to me or my brother. Louis weaved his way through the maze of chairs, tables, and people holding a cup of tea in one hand and a mug of Butterbeer in the other.

"I would have thought you'd Firewhisky," I told him as he sat down. Louis shook his head and passed me my mug.

"I've never been much of a drinker, besides I can't hold alcohol very well and I need to be sober to tell you this."

I rolled my eyes at him. I knew all about his drinking exploits back in his fifth year, but I didn't say anything. "I meant that you don't usually drink tea, but sure you're not a drinker. Anyway, shoot, what's going on?"

Louis hesitated for moment, looking around for potential eavesdroppers before leaning in closer and whispering, "Do you remember when you were bitten?"

"I remember everything that happened that night," I snapped. Louis looked taken aback. "Sorry," I muttered.

Louis cleared his throat, "well, erm, anyway. Six years ago, you were bitten and officially joined the Werewolf Protection Act. How many people outside the family knew what really happened that night?"

"Knew? There were two healers, the practitioner and the trainee; and three representatives from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures who were there that night, why?"

"A few days ago there was break-in at the Ministry," Louis told me, his voice low.

"How come I didn't hear about that?" I whispered. Something like that would have been reported.

"They covered it up. Even the other departments don't know it happened."

"Which department?" I asked.

"It was two departments that were infiltrated: the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the Department of Mysteries—"

"What? They broke into the Department of Mysteries?" I exploded.

"Shh! Keep it down, Dom." Louis gestured for me to keep quiet. "Listen, no one outside those departments knows what happened and they want it to stay that way," Louis hissed. He had finished his tea. The cup lay forgotten on the edge of the table. I took a sip of my Butterbeer and leaned forward.

"Lou, you don't work in either of those departments. How do you know about all this?"

Louis sighed as though resigned to a certain fate. "I don't work in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. That's just what I told our parents. Neither of them works for the ministry. I really work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

I gave a low whistle before responding. "And you decided to tell us this when?"

"I knew dad wouldn't like it," he explained.

"Without a doubt," I mumbled taking another sip of my Butterbeer.

"Anyway," Louis started again after giving me a pointed look, "I lied about the job. The point is that I knew about the break in because I was in the department. It happened in the night and simultaneously."

"Louis," I was confused, really confused, "that's bad and terrible and everything, but what does any of that have to do with me. In your letter you said—"

"Files were taken, secret ones."

I froze. "Secret files? From the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?" I demanded. "What were the files about?"

"I think you know, Dom, Werewolves, what else?"

"My file?" I was incredulous, this did not happen. "They took my file?" It was a testament to my self control that I did not shout that at the top of my lungs. But I must have looked deranged.

"Will you control yourself? You haven't gone wolf like that since your first year." Louis looked startled. I took several deep breaths before speaking again.

"Sorry," I breathed. "Don't talk about it here, though. How many others were taken?"

"Four, five in total," he answered. "I only know the name of one: yours."

"W—who stole them?" I asked. That file contained lots of information about me; no one should ever see it. "It had to be someone in the ministry, someone in the department who knew about the secret files."

Louis shook his head. "I don't know, but that's not all I wanted to talk to you about. You remember the pack that was sent to our house the night you were bitten, right?"

"Yeah, some extension of Greyback's," I replied, frowning.

"The ministry personnel took care of most of them, but not all. You know the reason they came, don't you?"

"Dad, Greyback wanted to turn him, because he didn't all those years ago."

"And Greyback got a better prize when you got in his way."

"Greyback didn't bite me, one of his lieutenants did."

"A lieutenant who eventually broke from the pack, and you and I both know that Greyback doesn't take too kindly to betrayal. The branched off pack made trouble for Greyback and now they're in a war. Werewolf activity has been increasing since then, even more in the last few years," Louis elaborated.

"Why are you telling me this? And wouldn't there have been reports of attacks, if not bites?" I asked. I was still reeling from the information that my personal file from the ministry had been stolen, and what Louis was telling me now didn't make much sense.

"I'm telling you this to warn you, Dom. The werewolf that bit you bit off a lot more than he could chew when he went up against Greyback. He's lost everything, but Greyback is going to continue until he and all his followers are dead, and Greyback is not going to care who he takes down on his way to vengeance.

"When the pack split, you were still at the hospital. Lyall, the one who split the pack, now realizes there's nowhere to go; he needs to make a deal to save his own skin. And, Dom, you would make a nice peace offering."

"How—how do you know this?" I stuttered.

"From work, we've been tracking their fight since it started," Louis admitted. I noticed that he seemed especially fidgety now, nervous.

"We can't, whenever we try to get close, someone ends up joining the Protection Act, or getting mauled. It doesn't get recognition in the _Daily Prophet _because we hush it up. But now things have gotten worse. I wanted to warn you. Hogwarts is still as safe as it's always been, but you'll eventually leave. I'm telling you this so you can be safe, watch yourself, Dom." Louis was getting up to leave when I remembered something.

"You said the Department of Mysteries had also been broken into," I stated.

"No one knows what was taken," was the reply.

"Then how does the department know it was broken into?"

"That's for the Unspeakables to know and for us to never find out, I suppose." Louis changed the subject, "now, Dominique, I would love to hear about what you have been doing since the school year started, but I'm afraid I have an engagement I must get to."

His back was turned when I asked him, "What engagement?"

"Oh, I promised Molly and Lucy I'd have lunch with them, goodbye, Dom. I'll write soon." He left out the door, probably going straight to Molly's apothecary to meet her and Lucy.

A few minutes later I was still at the table, staring at Louis's empty cup of tea; empty except for the tea leaves on the sides and bottom of the cup. I was staring at a peculiar patch of the leaves. Weird, I thought, it looked familiar, the patch. The leaves looked like a… a cross.

I remembered something from a few years ago. Rowena had been showing us her course book for Divination, _Unfogging the Future_. James had flipped to a page about reading tea leaves. That symbol, the cross, it meant… I closed my eyes. Trials and suffering, that's what the cross meant, but who was it meant for, me or Louis?

I shook my head. Divination was a ridiculous pursuit. Rowena may be a Seer, but even she said that Divination was not helpful to those who did not posses her abilities. The cross didn't mean anything. I stood up abruptly and left the Three Broomsticks in a sort of daze, the Butterbeer forgotten and only half-full.

"Dom?" called a voice down the road. I looked up and smiled. Deven was coming up the road to meet me. "Are you okay?"

"What?" we were standing face to face in front of Honeydukes. "Of course I'm okay."

Deven bent forward to get a better look at my face. His dark blue eyes glinted in the sudden sunlight poking through the clouds. "You look pale. What did Louis want to talk to you about?"

I glanced around us. Even with the crisp weather there were dozens of students walking up and down the street.

"I'll tell you, but not here. There are too many people around," I muttered. "Once we're back at the castle, I promise. But right now I've been in Hogsmeade for nearly an hour and I've yet to get a bar of Honeydukes best chocolate."

"Okay, but only because I'm getting really cold and I love their chocolate too," he consented. I laughed, kissed him, and walked into the sweet shop.

**Note: As promised here is chapter four. I hope to update again as soon as possible, but with the new school right around the corner, I might not be able to as soon as these last two chapters were posted. But I promise I will finish this story for those few who are actually reading this. **

**Also, I'm not sure about this ending, but I did not know else to do it. Thanks to all my readers; I know I'm not the quickest with updates. Please tell me what you think, what I should work on, etc. in a review.**


	5. Clippings

Chapter Five: Broomsticks

_Lena:_

The wood of the broom handle felt smooth and warm to the touch. The day was much warmer than it had been the previous week, which was a shame because there wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend this week. At the moment I was in the middle of a Quidditch practice for the upcoming match, the first match of the season against Gryffindor. While the Hufflepuff team was better than what it used to be, when my dad was at Hogwarts, we were still behind the other teams. I could count the amount of times Hufflepuff had won a match in my time at Hogwarts on one hand. We had to turn things around this year.

"Oi, Jordan, what are you doing? You better not be day-dreaming in the middle of your practice drill!" I was brought out of my thoughts when the team Captain shouted at me to pay attention.

"Right, sorry, I'm a bit distracted." I turned and angled my broom downward where my fellow chasers were getting ready to perform the Porskoff Ploy. Dylis Galt, the sixth-year Captain and another chaser was in possession of the quaffle.

"All right, Lena, you're the opposing chaser. Since she's new, Kiara will be the one throwing the quaffle to me, and I'll score. You got that, Kalant?" she shouted to our other new player, Kevin Kalant, from where he was at the goal posts. "Give me a challenge and try to block me." Kevin nodded in response, blond hair flashing in the sunlight, and adjusted himself on the broomstick to be ready.

"What about us?" Dale Macmillan asked. He gestured to himself and fellow beater, Loukas Smith.

"You two sit this one out. Once we have it down, I'll add you as distractions," Dylis told them. She tossed the quaffle to Kiara and blew her whistle. The slight second-year took off at the sound and darted towards the surprisingly clear sky. I went after her, gaining all the while. I was nearly at Kiara's ankle when she threw the quaffle straight down to where, hopefully, Dylis was waiting to receive it from her sister. Changing course, so now I was going after the quaffle not Kiara, I tracked the red ball's progress to the ground. Dylis was rushing up to get the quaffle too, but I was closer and caught it. I rushed to the goal posts opposite where Kevin was and launched the quaffle through the middle hoop. A second later Dylis was at my side.

"Well," she said, brown hair flipping in the slight breeze, "that didn't go as well as I thought it would."

The practice ended an hour later. After dozens and dozens of runs, we still hadn't gotten the Porskoff Ploy. We still had another week and a half to get it, but we weren't holding our breath.

"Merlin, I hate this," muttered Dylis after leaving the changing room. "This is my first year being Captain and already things have gone to the dogs."

"It's not that bad," I said bracingly. "Will we even need the Ploy, come match day?"

Dylis rolled her dark brown eyes at my words. "We need something. Aaron is still in the Hospital wing and even if he is released tomorrow, there's no way he's going to be able to catch up in training before next Saturday. And even if he did," she added after a moment, "Gryffindor's seeker is too good."

I nodded in agreement, too exhausted to give an answer. Lily Potter was probably as good a seeker as her father was, maybe even better. I glanced at Dylis; her demeanor was resigned, but her mouth was set into a grim line.

"Whatever, all I want right now is sleep," muttered Dale. "It's late and bloody hell, even my hair hurts."

When I had heard that Dylis was going to be team Captain, I admit I was a little put out. Now after seeing her trying to pull the team together, I was rather relieved it wasn't me. Dylis was trying, but I doubted we'd have a chance of winning, especially against the Gryffindors. We came into the castle and walked the rest of the distance to our common room in silence.

"What's going on?" asked Kiara. We had noticed there was a large crowd of Hufflepuffs around the bulletin board when we had entered the room.

"I don't know," muttered Dale. He moved forward and led us through the throng of students to the front of the group. Dale turned back to the rest of us. "It's just the usual announcement about the proper dress code for the Halloween Ball. Proper honor for your house, and all that," he said.

Shoot, I thought, I'd forgotten about the annual ball. And now it was less than three weeks away. I told the rest of the team I was heading up to the dormitory, and went down the steps to the room.

"Ouch," muttered Dominique as I pushed open the door. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed with a lump of cloth in front of her. She was examining her forefinger with her other hand holding shiny needle.

"What are you doing?"

"Sewing," Dominique explained. "There's a hole in the collar of my ball dress and I couldn't find that household spell-book grand-mum sent me."

"Where did you get the needle?"

"My Aunt Gabrielle," Dominique said off-handedly, stabbing the crumpled fabric on the bed that I now recognized as a midnight blue dress with three-quarter length sleeves and a high black collar, in which the needle was currently poking through. "Hey, how was Quidditch practice?"

I groaned. "Don't ask me. Next week, we're getting creamed," I told her. I dropped down on my own bed and placed a pillow on top of my face.

"That bad?" said Dom. She cut the thread with her teeth and set aside the sewing supplies. When I nodded she responded saying, "Well that's going to make commentating on the match rather depressing." Dominique had been Quidditch commentator since first year.

"Playing is going to be depressing too," I mumbled into the pillow. I pulled the pillow off my face and tossed it aside after deciding a change in subject was necessary. "Did you see the message on the notice board?"

"Yes, I did. And I've just been wondering when you were going to be telling me who your date was." Dominique gathered the dress and folded it before walking around the bed to place it back in her trunk.

I sat up in my bed. "I don't have one this year."

Dominique's eyebrows went up at the statement. "I think this is the first time in four years you haven't had a date to the Halloween Ball."

"I—really, four years?" I wondered, surprised. I shook my head. "Well, I figured I should appreciate single life now I've got it."

The look Dom gave me showed she didn't really believe me, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she asked me what I was going to be wearing.

"That will be a surprise for the ball," I told her, thinking that I should order it soon so it would get here before Halloween. Dom grinned and grabbed her school bag.

"I can't wait to see it. In the meantime, I have to finish our essay for Defense."

"I should do write that too," I realized. We both pulled out our half-finished essays and continued to work on them.

Aaron was released from the Hospital Wing two days later. During the following practices we pushed ourselves more vigorously. Now that we had Aaron back the team's moral had been raised. The teams' performance was another matter.

I woke up the morning of the match feeling energized and very anxious. Outside, the sky was gray and cold. There was minimal wind and the sun was covered by clouds. In short, those were ideal Quidditch conditions.

"Good," I muttered, "at least the weather's fine." I showered quickly, and by the time I came out Dominique and the other girls were up as well. Once we were all dressed and ready to go, we went to the Great Hall together for breakfast. The rest of the Quidditch team was already at the table.

"Everyone ready?" asked Dylis.

"As ready as I'll ever be," mumbled Markus, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Gryffindor doesn't even seem nervous," pointed out Kiara. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that she was right. James, Captain of the Gryffindor team, was joking with Steve and Fred, the team beaters. Albus, James' younger brother, and Rose and Roxanne, James' cousins' were holding an animated conversation on the other end of the table. Rose even had a text book out and appeared to be studying. Lily, Gryffindor's seeker was talking with her cousin Hugo, one of the Ravenclaw team's beaters and laughing at something he said.

After we had finished eating, Dylis called us to head into the locker room to prepare. The Gryffindor team got up too and followed us out the Great Hall.

We walked in two separate groups as we closed in on the Quidditch Pitch. I heard quick movement to my left and saw Fred trotting up to me.

"What?" I asked him, puzzled.

"Nothing, I just wanted to wish you good luck, Buttercup," he said with a mischievous look in his eye.

"What did you call me?" I wasn't sure I heard right.

"Buttercup, it's a nickname I've come up with for you." Fred looked slightly worried.

"Whatever, Fred, you're just trying to distract me." I rolled my eyes at him.

Fred pretended to pout. "Aw, Buttercup, you know as well as I do that you're impossible to distract."

"I'll see you in the air, Fred," I told him before I followed my team into the locker room.

I was strapping on my gloves and waiting for Dylis to come into the locker room to give us her pre-game pep talk. The sound of a locker closing brought my attention to my surroundings. "Nervous?" I asked Kevin, the owner of the locker. He certainly looked nervous about his first game. His fingers fumbled as he fastened his robes and his face looked pale.

"Yes, and you're not?" he answered skeptically.

"Of course," I replied. "Don't worry though; you've got an easy job."

Kevin laughed. "Easy job, yeah, all I have to do is voluntarily get in front of very large, very heavy projectiles that are traveling very fast. You're right, I shouldn't worry."

I shook my head at him. "You do well enough at team practice."

"Right," he said, more to himself than to me. He had finished fastening his robes and was now pulling his keepers gloves on. "But this isn't practice," Kevin added silently as though hoping I wouldn't hear. I pretended not to.

Dylis came in then and started her speech. "Okay, I know we haven't had the best last few years, but we have a better chance this year than we ever had before. I know we can win this. Let's go show those Lions what we've got." She grabbed her broom headed out the locker room door. We followed our captain onto the pitch.

Up in the stands I saw Dominique up in the commentator's box holding the magical megaphone. Deven and Rowena were seated below the box surrounded by red and gold clad students shouting and waving pennants, although Deven and Rowena seemed to be neutrally supportive of the teams playing. On the other end of the stadium the spectators were wearing yellow and black, the Hufflepuff house colors.

"Students and staff of Hogwarts welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season. As per usual I, Dominique Weasley, will be your commentator. Coming out right now is the Hufflepuff team, Team Captain and chaser Dylis Galt, chasers Kiara Galt and Lena Jordan, beaters Dale Macmillan and Loukas Smith, seeker Aaron Banks, and keeper Kevin Kalant."

The door to the other locker room opened and the Gryffindor team filed through onto the pitch.

"And here comes the Gryffindor team, led by Captain and keeper James Potter, and followed by chasers Rose and Roxanne Weasley, and Albus Potter; beaters Fred Weasley and Steve Helm; and seeker Lily Potter."

The Gryffindors lined up in the order Dominique had called them. We lined up across from them and James and Dylis walked up to each other to shake hands in front of Madame Hooch.

"Good luck, Kevin," called out Lily Potter before mounting her broom. Kevin responded with a thumbs-up sign and a smile as James and Dylis had shook hands. Hooch let the balls loose. The players launched into the air, Dylis, Kiara, and I rushing to intercept the quaffle.

"Gryffindor in possession —Gryffindor chaser Rose Weasley going up to the Hufflepuff goal posts—I hope their new keeper is up for the challenge—and yes he saves it!" shouted Dom from the commentator's box. I allowed myself a sigh of relief before continuing my pursuit of the quaffle which was now in Rose's cousin, Roxanne's, hands.

Dale got hold of a bludger and sent it Roxanne's way. The ball would have found its mark if Fred hadn't slipped in and fired it away from his sister.

"Careful there, sis," Fred told her before flying off.

Dylis and I trailed Roxy as she neared the goal posts. Kiara hovered near the center of the pitch to catch the quaffle once we took possession of it. Dylis was growing level with Roxy when the younger girl suddenly changed direction and shot nearly vertical in the air, forcing us to give chase. We had risen about thirty feet when we realized we'd been led into a trap. Roxanne threw the quaffle straight down before either Dylis or I could turn around. Once we had managed to the damage was already done: Albus had caught the quaffle and was racing to throw it into a goal post. Rose was blocking Kiara, but even if she hadn't been our new chaser was too far away to intercept the red ball.

"Ten to zero—Gryffindor in the lead due to the excellent use of the Porskoff Ploy," came Dom's voice from the box.

"The answer is yes, Lena, we will need the Porskoff Ploy on match day," said Dylis dully. I winced. The play we had working over two week on had just been used against us, and the worst was; it had worked. The two of us rushed off after the quaffle; now back in Rose's possession. Dale fired a bludger. Rose ducked, but lost her grip, and the quaffle dropped to be retrieved by Kiara grinning broadly.

"Hufflepuff in possession, Kiara Galt of Hufflepuff is racing to the Gryffindor goalposts." Dom sounded much more excited now than she had when Gryffindor had scored.

"Hawkshead Formation," whispered Dylis before she pulled ahead of me.

I nodded, even though Dylis could see and moved to Kiara's right side while Dylis placed herself at her sister's left. We both dropped a bit behind Kiara so we were diagonal from her, and acted as side guards as she approached the scoring area, once Kiara passed the line separating the scoring area we stayed back as we weren't allowed past that line.

"That was a close one. A bludger sent by Helm missed Galt by a hair. She's coming up to the Gryffindor chaser—no distractions to stop her now, just the keeper—Galt throws the quaffle and—yes! Yes, ten points to Hufflepuff!" Dom exclaimed from the commentators' box.

Dylis, Kiara, and I spared a moment to high five each other before turning back to the game.

Close to an hour later we were no closer to ending the match. The snitch remained just as elusive as when it had first been released. The score was higher now, 120-80 with Gryffindor in the lead.

"Only forty points behind. If we catch the snitch now, we win," said Dylis.

"Shouldn't we hold off until we score more points?" asked Kiara.

I answered for Dylis. "It's too risky. It would be easier to just catch the snitch and not give Gryffindor more of a lead than they already have."

Dylis scored another goal and the quaffle was soon in my possession. Leaning forward on my broom I pushed hard to the Gryffindor goalposts with the red ball under my arm.

"Come on, Lena, give me your best shot," James goaded playfully as I neared him.

"If you insist," I called back. I pulled my arm back and launched the quaffle at James' left hoop. He swerved sharply to defend the hoop, but the quaffle slipped just over the tips of his fingers.

"You've gotten better," grunted James as he settled back on his broomstick. I didn't respond, but turned around to begin again my chase of the quaffle when Dominique continued with her commentating.

"Its 120-100 with Gryffindor in the lead—Hufflepuff gaining—oh, there seems to be activity between the seekers—wait, is that the snitch?" she suddenly shouted. My neck whipped around so fast I was sure I had pulled something.

Lily and Aaron were in a steep dive heading straight toward a glittering gold speck hovering about a foot from the ground. Come on, please, I thought, let him grab it. no one was thinking about the quaffle anymore, even Roxanne who had it in her hands was watching the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff seekers getting closer and closer to the green grass. The world seemed to go silent as Aaron drew level with his opposition and stretched his arm out. The ground got too close and they crashed into it, the snitch obscured in the tumble.

I angled my broom downward and was soon touching down. I reached the crash site as madam Hooch was pulling Aaron to his feet. James came down beside and immediately went to his sister.

"Are they injured?" I asked.

"I'm not, just sore," said Aaron.

Lily groaned as James and Albus grabbed her arm to help her up. "Hey, Lils, you okay?" asked James anxiously.

"What?" Lily muttered as she struggled to sit up. "Of course I'm fi—i—oh, okay, not fine. Not fine at all. I think I broke something, my collarbone. Mend it please, someone," she murmured faintly waving her left hand. Her right seemed to be the one with the broken collarbone. The hand was clenched tightly in a fist.

"You caught the snitch," deadpanned Dylis.

Up in the box Dominique had reached the same conclusion. "Gryffindor wins! Lily Potter has caught the snitch. Final score is 270-100 to Gryffindor," she shouted.

"Come on Lils, we'll celebrate later. Hospital wing now," said James. He grabbed his sister's arm and draped it over his shoulder. They left the pitch with Lily leaning against her older brother, the snitch still struggling fruitlessly in her hand.

The rest of the Gryffindor team followed along with Kevin. The stands began to empty. Dylis attempted an encouraging smile that looked more like a bitter grimace. "It could've gone better, but we did well. You all did really well." she turned away and started following the crowd to the castle. The rest of the team saw no reason to stick around and followed. I turned in the opposite direction back to the locker room.

"Hey, hey Lena!" shouted Fred. Apparently he had snuck away from his cousins and had doubled back. "I want to tell you something."

"So tell me," I called back without turning around. I was nearly at the door, just a few more yards.

"Good job out there." He sounded closer now. And when I turned around he was only three feet away, and closing in fast.

"What?"

"Good job," he repeated. "Are you okay, Buttercup?" his brow creased in concern

It was the nickname, the stupid nickname that now made me angry not the loss of the match. "Don't call me that," I snapped. "You don't give nicknames. And what do you mean 'good job'? We lost."

Fred looked startled and cornered. He shuffled backward a step. There was deep familiar silence that settled between us. I didn't like the familiarity.

"I was only being nice, Lena. Sorry that you can't appreciate it." Fred looked like we wanted to say more; his mouth had opened a fraction, but he shook his head and walked away.

I felt three different desires. I to call him back, disappear, and hit something all at once. I settled on throwing my broom to the ground as hard as I could and then picking it up again to put back in the shed. Back in the locker room I stripped off my dirty, sweaty robes and took a shower. The pounding of the water was strangely soothing and rhythmic.

The slam of the dormitory door brought the world into sharp focus. I raised my head off the open textbook that had previously been my pillow and stared bleary-eyed at the source of my rude awakening. Comya and Jamesena had entered the room talking loudly.

"I can't believe it. I mean, when has he ever shown interest in me before? I never even knew he liked me before," Comya was saying. She dropped her books on her bed.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Fred Weasley just asked Comya to the Halloween Ball," said Jamesena excitedly. Comya blushed and tried to say that it wasn't a big deal, but the large silly smile on her face said otherwise. I must've looked shocked because when Comya saw my expression the smile slipped off her face.

"Oh, Lena, I didn't realize…if this weird for you I could cancel. I should've asked you first if this was okay…" she trailed off.

"What?" I said. "Comya, no, don't do that. I'm happy for you, I am; I was just surprised that's all. You'd look cute together." I wasn't even too close to Comya, and here she was offering to cancel her date just so I wouldn't feel uncomfortable. I felt a surge of gratitude toward her. It didn't feel like a struggle to get out that last sentence.

Comya's smile returned full force as she asked, "Really, you're okay with it? Thank you, Len."

"If Comya is going with Fred who are you going to the ball with, Lena?" said Jamesena. She walked over to her side table and started running a brush through her long hazelnut hair.

"Oh, um…I going with…Steve," I replied. It was a lie of course, but I figured I could convince him if I found him fast enough.

Jamesena stopped the brush halfway through a lock of hair. "You mean you and Steve are…together?"

"Merlin, no," I laughed. "We're going as friends, just friends."

"Oh, so you're not dating anyone?" Jamesena sounded faintly disappointed. Naturally, if Steve and I was an item, it would be all over the school within half an hour if Jamesena had anything to do with it.

"No, I'm enjoying single life right now," I told them with a winning smile. I diverted their attention from dates by telling about the dress I was about to order from _Witch Weekly._ My Potions essay could wait until tomorrow, I decided. Right now, the Halloween Ball was more important.

The Halloween Ball was on a Sunday. The Full Moon was the day after. Dominique said she'd probably turn in early on the night of the ball.

"People usually wear more silver jewelry than normal for the ball, and with the moon tomorrow and all—it's just not a good combination," she told me while removing hair curlers from her silver-blond locks in preparation for said ball. Obviously none of our roommates were inside at the moment. They had left for the common room while Dom had still been curling her hair. It now cascaded down her back in tight ringlets that Dominique now began pinning up in an elaborate style.

"It'll come apart by the night's end, just leave it out," I said, finishing the straps of my shiny black heels.

Dom stopped pulling her hair up and let the strands fall back still curled. "You think so?" she leaned forward to the mirror on the wall next to the window to examine how well the hair looked without the fancy hairdo. "Yeah, that looks fine." She adjusted the collar of her blue and black dress, and fastened the clasp of the necklace she planned on wearing—a ruby pendant on a simple platinum chain—that stood out starkly against the dark of her dress and white of her skin.

I put my hands in my hair and shook them to muss up my previously perfectly straightened hair somewhat. Standing up and smoothing the front of my orange ball dress. Dom and I both left the common room expecting a fun time at the Halloween Ball.

We met our dates in the Entrance Hall. Deven was wearing plain robes that were nonetheless new and Steve was wearing the same dark blue robes from last year.

"You look nice," nodded Steve. He stuck out his arm and I took it. Deven greeted Dominique with a quick peck on the cheek and telling her she looked beautiful. They told us they'd catch up with us later and entered the Great Hall.

"Thanks," I muttered. I glanced around and spotted Fred getting greeted by Comya. His dark red robes and her raspberry ones went together so perfectly, I thought they must've planned it. "Let's go in," I said leading the way.

The Great Hall was amazing. Black and orange streamers and balloons, that did not float away, hung along the walls. Hagrids' pumpkins bobbed up and down around the magical ceiling that showed thousands of stars staring at the people below. The lighting was dim giving the hall a very spooky feel. Enchanted skeletons clacked around the students shouting 'Boo!' into their ears when they least suspected it. Music was playing, but I couldn't see the source of it.

Steve and I both decided to eat instead of going on the dance floor. We sat at one of the small round tables scattered around the edges of the hall. I picked up the menu and thought about what to order.

"What do you think?" Steve asked.

"I think the roast beef sounds good," I said. He nodded and we both ordered it.

All in all, the ball was pretty boring. I just wasn't in the mood to enjoy myself, and I guess Steve picked up on that. He insisted we dance a bit, but didn't push anymore than that, which I was grateful for.

Other than Fred, I'd known Steve the longest of anyone. We'd gone to the same primary school—a crazy idea of our parents—although we didn't find out about the other being magical until I accidentally let slip something about the new broomstick I'd gotten for my birthday. Since then we were even closer friends, although things had changed when we got to Hogwarts.

Steve went off to talk to some people while I stayed back trying to not look as bored as I did. I eventually made excuses to Steve and left the ball with Dominique, who decided to turn in early due to the Full Moon tomorrow.

On Monday I was grateful for classes beginning again. My Defense essay on ways to repel vampires received an E making it my highest grade of the term. Dylis also called a practice that afternoon. We got in close to sunset. I thought Dom had already left for the Shrieking Shack, where she had her transformations, but I was just putting away my robes when she burst into the room, her book bag slipping off her shoulder.

"Cutting it a bit close aren't you?" I said as Dominique dropped her bag and books on her yellow bedspread and pulled the curtains around the four poster closed.

"I know. I lost track of time. Where's James?" she changed the subject.

"Probably still in the Entrance hall," I told her. She nodded and hurried out of the room.

I went to her bed and put her bag and books back in her trunk, fixed the pillows on the bed to look like a sleeping figure, and pulled the curtains back in the closed position. Ever since my third year I had been helping Dominique keep her secret. James helped too, by letting her use his invisibility cloak to sneak out to the grounds without patrolling prefects catching her.

I sat for a while watching as a few minutes later the moon appeared in the sky.

I had first become suspicious about Dominique's Lycanthropy in my first year. My suspicions were confirmed in second year, but Dominique did not decide to tell me about it until our third year. In my opinion, she was remarkably accepting about her condition. It wasn't until fifth year that I realized she wasn't as okay with it as I had thought. Career advice really hit her hard. She would have a hard time finding a job that would hire a werewolf.

But Dom was determined to have a future. She worked at least three times as hard as anyone else in our year, and remained just as optimistic and hopeful as she had in first year. In many ways she was the ultimate Hufflepuff. Now she was learning to brew the Wolfsbane potion so she wouldn't have to depend on Professor Slughorn and St. Mungo's for it

It was well past our nine o'clock curfew before the common emptied and the dormitory filled up again, breaking off my reverie. I fell asleep of foreboding, like none of this would matter in long run.

I woke up the morning after the Full Moon feeling refreshed. Dominique was not in the dormitory when I left with McKenzie for breakfast. Dominique might've gone straight from the Hospital wing to the Great Hall as she sometimes did after transformation.

Sure enough, Dom was already chewing toast when McKenzie and I took our seats. She looked tired, but the potions she took in the mornings after Full Moon seemed to working, erasing dark circles and giving color back into her cheeks. I piled my plate with fried tomatoes, eggs, and a muffin while the Great Hall slowly began to fill up. I watched as James, Steve, and Fred took their seats at the lower third of Gryffindor table. Soon after, Comya appeared across from Fred so quickly I could have sworn she had Apparated.

I frowned and re-focused my attention to the breakfast in front of me as the mail started filtering through the ceiling of the hall. The family owl came closer, and landed with one foot in my eggs, successfully ending my appetite. The grey Screech owl dropped a parchment note on my lap, stole my muffin, and flew off to the owlery.

I was about to open the letter when a sort strangled gasp brought my attention to Dominique. Dominique was one of the few students who had a subscription to the Daily Prophet. She holding today's copy, her face slack and draining of color.

"What is it?" I asked, hesitant. When she didn't answer I snatched the paper and saw the large bolded letters across the front page: **Senior Auror Killed by Werewolf.**

The article read:

Late last night while completing field work for his department, Senior Auror Rupert Helm was brutally attacked and killed by a creature later identified as a Werewolf. Sources are as yet unsure of the nature of this attack, or even which Werewolf pack the killer belonged to. Head Auror Harry Potter was unavailable for comment on the tragic death of one of the Auror departments finest. We can only hope for justice to be served swiftly to prevent another attack like this one. Meanwhile, thoughts are with Rupert Helm's family, his wife, Grace, and his son, Steve, currently in his final year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Neither family member was available for comment either. Article continued on pages 3 and 4.

What, no, this wasn't—this couldn't be—true, I thought. Steve's father, dead?—no, that didn't just happen, did it? I looked up frantically at the Gryffindor. A letter had just been dropped in front of Steve. I almost shouted at him not to open it, but I was powerless to stop the look of horror on his face as he read the message detailing his father's death. His world had been shattered and utterly changed forever in a matter of minutes.

Next to him, Fred had received his copy of the Daily Prophet. James looked over his shoulder to read the paper. They turned to Steve, but Steve was already halfway out the hall. The door closed behind him with a dull thud.

Beside me, Dominique's eyes were shining and her hands were shaking. "I—I have to go," she whispered before getting up and almost running from the hall.

I weighed my choices. I could both follow Dominique, and try to make sense of the petrifying guilt I knew she was feeling; or I could go after Steve and a pain I understood. I could also give them both space and not skip class.

I caught up with Steve at the edge of the lake.

He had the letter in his hands and was in the process of ripping it up into confetti and throwing the pieces into the water.

"Steve…" I started. Then I stopped. What do you say to a person whose father has died?

Steve didn't seem to hear me in any case. He looked lost; waving his hands agitatedly and kicking at nothing. I tried again, "Steve?"

He whirled around and shouted, "What?" I didn't try to stop him, I wasn't even sure I could. "What do you want? What does anyone want?"

He threw the last of the ripped parchment into the lake and sat down, hard, on the ground, his knees brought up to chin, hands wrapped around legs. He faced the lake. I sat down next to him.

There was silence; then a strange sound, like a watery repetitive sigh that soon turned raspy. Steve was crying. I didn't say anything, just sat. A cool breeze sent ripples across the surface of the water. I focused on them as I started to talk.

"My mum died," my voice quavered, "years ago. I was four." Steve didn't give any indication that he was listening. "I don't remember much about her, but I remember hearing the news, the funeral, moving into my grandparents' house."

I wasn't sure why I was saying this. Steve knew my mother died, knew I lived with my father's parents for three years after her death. I knew I was re-opening an old wound. We were sharing our pain with each other. We had something else in common now. So I kept talking about my mum, things I heard from stories or learned from pictures. Tears started down my face.

Steve started talking. He shared stories about I hadn't heard before. We spoke in those shaky quiet shell-shocked voices people used in the early hours after a disaster. When the dwindled to a halt we continued sitting, and stared at the horizon over the lake. It was cool, not freezing. Occasionally another breeze would rustle the leaves from the forest. The weather appeared to match our mood, I think; neutral.

**A/N: I was undecided about this chapter. I didn't like the Ball plot of this chapter, but I can't think of a way to fix it because I can't remove without getting rid of part of the back-story put in there. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Like I said before, updates will be irregular because of the school year, but with the holiday season no longer around the corner I'll have some extra time on my hands.**


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